Helena sensed danger when someone with an unknown identity approached, stepping noisily.

Calis was the only one who had visited the courtyard. Her parents had already conveyed their hearts through a letter.

In the letter, they claimed to be worried about their daughter receiving punishment from the gods in the future and attended as witnesses.

Nonsense. It was clear they were after money.

Whether when Helena helped with Jane’s affair, when the Queen came looking for her, or during the trial – she acted like it was for some noble cause, but it was all for money.

It was then.

“Hello?”

The person who had piqued Helena’s curiosity finally appeared.

‘Who is this man?’

Upon closer inspection, he seemed like the man she briefly locked eyes with from the audience. Despite wearing a robe, his appearance was unfamiliar, but the atmosphere was similar, and the eye patch that was visible under the hat was the same.

“You look good, don’t you?”

His voice seemed strangely familiar.

‘Perhaps the victim was at fault. Otherwise, would the lady have committed a crime?’

It felt similar to the low voice that suddenly popped out from the audience.

“Who are you?”

A sense of danger flowed from the man.

Black eyes that couldn’t express emotions. Crimson hair resembling the fervor of the sun. The skin was pitch black, yet there was a certain charm.

Despite having a completely different appearance, his face reminded Helena of the emperor of the empire.

“Cedric Theodore.”

“Wh-who?”

“The Grand Duke Theodore of the Sahir Empire!”

Helena, who was groping for the noble family background, finally remembered him.

“Why is the Grand Duke here?”

It was their first meeting. Had he personally come this far to request a visit for her, someone with whom he had no connection?

“To enjoy the pitiful appearance of the duke’s wife?”

“Are you mocking me right now?”

“No, not at all. I came to help you.”

He clapped his hands contemptuously towards the standing figure.

“…Helping?”

Doubt seeped into her questioning voice.

Then, a hand came through the sturdy glass opening. Soon, the man dropped the vial he was holding to the ground.

Rolling.

The rolling container touched Helena’s knees briefly before falling out.

“What is this?”

The vial emitted a sinister feeling, as if it had its owner.

At Helena’s suspicious question, the man laughed again. His eye, visible from one side, sneered.

“It’s a medicine to put you to sleep.”

“Sleep… what are you talking about?”

“If you drink this, you’ll sleep for a long time. Until the effect wears off, it’ll stop your heart from beating. Yes, just like a corpse.”

“…”

“People will think you’re dead. They won’t conduct a proper funeral for a prisoner’s death. At that time, I will step forward and offer to help with your funeral.”

So, he meant to fake Helena’s death and take her away from here.

“Then, your child can be born in a safe place. You can even raise the child below.”
The uneasy plan quickly turned into a sweet proposal.

Helena unconsciously clenched her stomach.

Even for Calis, she felt sorry for her poor child who would be abandoned and sent directly to the orphanage upon birth.

“I can raise it? Can I see the child growing up?”

Unable to see Shasha outside the world anymore, the thought of being able to live with the child, watching Shasha grow until the end overwhelmed her. If a child resembling Calis were to come into the world and Helena was protecting it…

Wouldn’t Calis come back someday?

Whether she had completely forgotten the recent events or not, Helena started having foolish fantasies again.

“Helena, do you know where the prison you’re going to is? It’s an underground prison. Once you go there, you won’t see the shining sun. You have to wait in the darkness until you die!”

While she hesitated, Cedric drove the wedge.

“You should go out and take care of the child. Is it fair for you to receive a heavy punishment unfairly?”

She felt the other person’s heart wavering.

“But… how can I trust you… we just met, and I can’t be sure if you are the Grand Duke Theodore…”

At that moment, Helena’s mind flashed. She muttered with a skeptical voice, stroking the fallen vial.

Talking nonsense as if it were the truth.

Cedric chuckled eventually. With a sneer and a smirk, he took a seal from the inside pocket of his jacket. It was the mark of the Theodore Grand Ducal Family.

“Will this do?”

As the wife of a duke, Helena had memorized all the major family patterns.

On the seal Cedric held up, the pattern of the Theodore Grand Ducal Family was truly engraved.

“Well, is it proven now?”

His face showed annoyance. Then Cedric gestured towards the vial. It was a signal to take the medicine without unnecessary words.

“But why are you helping me, Your Grace? If this gets revealed, it will be troublesome, helping me without thinking…”

Soon, Cedric approached the glass window. Despite not having a large build, he looked relatively big compared to Helena.